Melissa Wilson

Melissa Wilson is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Arizona State University (ASU) with multiple affiliations, including the Biosocial Complexity Initiative, Biodesign Center for Mechanisms of Evolution, Center for Evolution and Medicine, and Lincoln Center Applied Ethics. Her research focuses on sex-biased biology, studying evolution of sex chromosomes, mutation rate differences between sexes, and population history impacts on genetic variation.

• Ph.D., Integrative Biology - Bioinformatics and Genomics, Pennsylvania State University
• B.Math., Medical Mathematics, Creighton University

Her research spans Sex Chromosome Evolution, Comparative Genomics, and Computational Biology, with applications in pregnancy biology, spermatogenesis, oogenesis, and cancer. She actively engages in K-12 outreach and public education about genetic inheritance and evolution.

Recent publications highlight interdisciplinary work combining deep learning and genomics to analyze sex differences in Alzheimer's disease, evolutionary patterns in sex chromosomes, and computational methods for variant calling. Her teaching involves courses in computational biology, evolution, and research methods.

She contributes to bioinformatics education through asynchronous CURE (Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience) programs and advocates for improved integration of computational methods in life sciences curricula.